Fitz's Stockton: Excavating Stockton's Egyptian past

Speaking of Glenn Allen (1868-1943), which we were last week, the Stockton architect took a day off from designing dignified civic buildings now and then and cut loose.

Such a project was Dawson’s Fireproof Storage building, which still stands at 630 N. Californa St. In the 1920s, Dawson, a wealthy merchant and a Mason, asked Allen to design a building reflecting eternal Masonic truths. Price was no object.

Allen responded with an orgy of Egyptian architecture that probably had no equal this side of a Hollywood studio.

His design featured an imposing edifice ornamented with winged griffins and other Egyptian icons painted on the walls. Tomb-like entrances admitted customers. Stone pillars out front cast bold light on the building from half-shell lamps.

The building originally was supposed to be taller, but cost became a consideration. Which is to say, price was no object until Dawson ran out of money.

The structure was a unique testament to Allen’s eccentric brilliance. It’s a crime that its Egyptian character was not preserved. Instead virtually all Egyptian touches were removed so the building could become the (quite successful) Morris Bros. office supply store.

But if you go around to the building’s Oak Street side, you can still see a freize with naked Egyptian concubines dancing in bas relief around an asp. Others carry wine jars. An Egyptian hottie snuggles in the lap of a Pharaoh.

They survived the sands of time.

— Contact columnist Michael Fitzgerald at (209) 546-8270 or michaelf@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/fitzgeraldblog and on Twitter@Stocktonopolis.